After studying journalism, Canadian-born Christina moved to New York City. Armed with a keen visual eye, Christina secured a job on the video team at Refinery29, producing anything and everything related to pop culture. Being the millennial that she is, Christina is a social media addict and believes that a personal brand should be genuine and authentic.

Read on for our interview with Christina as we dive into her top tips for recent graduates interested in journalism, the one woman she looks up to the most, and what journalism piece she’s most proud of. Check out her page to view her portfolio.

Tell us a little bit about yourself.

I’m a 24-year-old, Canadian-born journalist living in New York City. I’m originally from Vancouver, British Columbia but I went to Ryerson University in Toronto to pursue a career in journalism. I decided to continue my education as a Master’s student at New York University.

Now graduated, I’ve entered the real world and am working with the video team at Refinery29, where I produce pop culture content. I’ve always had a passion for storytelling and I love being able to meet interesting people throughout my experiences. I’m a social media addict, bacon enthusiast and cannot survive without coffee. I’m also a hip-hop dancer and am always down to break out the moves.

What piece are you most proud of and why? Can be an article / video / etc.

As part of my capstone at NYU, I took a multimedia journalism course that allowed me to work on two very different pieces that were tied together as part of a larger project focusing on immigration, called “The New World.”One is about a man who escaped homophobic hate crimes in Russia and is happy to now call New York his home. The other is about theculture of Mexican food, taking a closer look into the history of nachos. Very different stories, but both were so incredibly interesting. I’m proud of these pieces because it really took me outside my comfort zone and I got to use all of the skills I’ve learned throughout school and put them to work.

Who is one woman you look up to most and why?

The first woman who comes to mind is my 103-year-old great grandmother. She is probably the strongest, most hard-working woman I know. She’s tiny but tough as nails.

You have some awesome experience under your belt! What are 3 tips you have for young people who want to pursue a career in journalism + what they can do before they graduate college?

Talk to people. You never know who you might meet, so be open to chatting with the people around you.

Keep in contact. Following up is key!

I’m a big believer in that saying “luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.” It’s all about timing so don’t stress too much when things seem rough.

What’s one thing you wish you knew when you were 18?

I wish I knew that everything would work out. I wish I did more passion projects and worried less about the future.

What do you love most about living in New York City?

New York City is the one place where I get that “this is where I belong” feeling. I’m often that girl wandering around with a stupid smile on her face. I love how fast-paced this city is and how there’s so much always going on. I’m also a fan of the food selection that’s available around the clock.

You have an awesome personal brand online. Tell us about your experience using about.me. What’s one thing everyone should keep in mind when they’re creating their own digital brand?

I started usingabout.me when I was trying to figure out how to make an online portfolio without going through too much stress. It’s so easy to use and it’s a great hub for someone to find out everything about me — perfect for potential employers. When creating your digital brand, it’s so important to be as genuine and authentic as possible.

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Zoë Björnson is a Product Marketing Manager at about.me. She loves cheese and is currently traveling the world while working remotely. You can find her on Twitter @kzoeb.

One response to 3 Tips for Recent Graduates Interested in Journalism

Hi Christina! Just read your profile. I found what you do very interesting and would love to learn more about social media in NYC. (I have been oversea for 7 years now, feel so disconnected lol)

A little about myself. My name is Bunny Yan. I graduated from FIT (NYC) back in 2001. After working in fashion for many years, I wanted to start my own brand and start looking at factories in China. I realize that factories were throwing out so many trimmings, offcuts, quality products with minor defects, I wanted to share these free and awesome resource with all creative minds alike, but the quantities are simply too huge.

So I started to build a free material sharing app (peer to peer). Designers can take leftover fabric, trimmings listing on the app for free and post their own unwanted material for other designers to create with. 🙂 I want to get all designers involved, reducing waste through creativity.